I Would Still be Loving You
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Pairing: Uhura/Chapel
Series: Belief in Angels
Summary: In which Christine and Nyota celebrate Mother's Day with their family.
"Thank you."
"For what?" Christine asks, shifting over on the sofa to allow Nyota to sit next to her. Nyota smiles, handing her wife a glass of red wine. An indulgence, a celebration. They don't drink much, these days. Haven't since they were young and half-miserable. Chris reminds herself that things are better now, that it's silly to get caught up in half-remembered visions of the past.
"For insisting on Bahari," Nyota says simply, her eyes still smiling as she takes a sip of her drink.
Chris grins. "I was wondering when you were finally going to say that. Seems to me you're about twenty years too late."
Nyota shoots her a dirty look. "Yes, well, I wasn't going to be thanking you when we had a baby on a starship for a year. Not one of our better ideas."
"I could make a witty retort, but it's pointless. You don't mind at all. I can see it in your eyes, Miss I-don't-get-nostalgic. Please."
Nyota shrugs, leaning into Christine's side. Chris wraps her free arm around Nyota's shoulders, hand playing lazily with Nyota's hair. There's a long pause, but the quiet hasn't been awkward for a long time. These days, they don't need to talk as much as they did when they were young. Even Nyota. Their words hang between them, a cord binding them, built of all their years together.
"We were good mothers, weren't we, Chris?"
And yet, sometimes, Nyota still manages to surprise her.
"I think we were," Christine says simply, her eyes wandering over all the pictures, the grandkids' finger paintings taped on their fridge. The physical evidence of their life. "Yes. I really think we were."
"Thank you," Nyota whispers, curling into Christine.
Chris doesn't say anything, just takes the wine glass out of her wife's hand and places it on the coffee table. Sometimes, they all just need the contact, need to forget the memories, to get out of their own heads and just touch. Just hold on, because they've forgotten that they aren't in space anymore. Old habits die hard, you see.
Chris holds her, and they lose track of time. It's always been like this with them. Chris forgets everything around Nyota. She did back when they were staying together after the Narada, and she does now. This has always been enough.
The knock on the door startles them both. Nyota looks up, grinning. "I'll get it," she says, giving Chris a quick kiss.
Chris just leans back on the sofa, taking a sip of her wine and watching the way Nyota's face lights up when she opens the door and Bahari's standing there with two bouquets of flowers and her family. It makes Chris fall in love with her all over again.
"Furaha Mama Siku," Bahari says in Swahili, giving her mother a kiss.
The grandkids attach themselves to Nyota's legs, and Bahari smiles at Chris, handing her both bouquets. "Happy Mother's Day, Mom." She gives Chris's hand a squeeze. "Better keep those," she says. "The boys will tear them up, and Mama's a little busy with them at the moment."
"Of course, baby," Chris says, stopping to give Bahari's husband Zach a hug before attempting to find a vase in their cluttered cabinets. Bahari joins her a moment later, nudging Chris's shoulder and pointing surreptitiously into the living room. Christine glances around the corner to see Nyota and Zach wrestling with Jim and Jabari.
"Thank you," Bahari says abruptly, dark eyes twinkling.
"For what?" Chris asks, smiling because Bahari is so much like Nyota. She wonders how the two of them did this, made this family, this beautiful, beautiful girl.
"For being there," she replies, fingers tightening around the glass functioning as a makeshift vase. "When I was growing up, I mean. For sticking around, even with Starfleet and everything."
Chris's eyes start watering, and she glances over at Nyota, who is tickling Jim mercilessly while Zach pins Jabari's hands behind his back. They're all laughing, and for some reason it reminds Chris of listening to Nyota sing. It's safe, warm, and oh so lovely. She wraps an arm around Bahari's shoulders, kisses her daughter's cheek.
"You're welcome."